When it comes to passion for their favorite sports teams, you would be hard pressed to find many fan bases who can go toe-to-toe with Bills Mafia. For Bills fans, Buffalo Bills football is not just a hobby, it is a way of life; and with the Bills out to a 4-1 start to the 2025 season, the fervor around the team is only going to continue to grow.

Within any fanbase, you are bound to find countless traditions centered around their favorite team that are held dear. However, what truly sets Bills fans apart is the sense of community that the team brings. Wear any piece of Bills gear outside of Western New York, and it is only a matter of time before a stranger inevitably gives you the universal greeting of “Go Bills!” And just like that, a stranger is now a friend, even if you never learn their name.

To get a sense of the passion and fervor that the fanbase has for the team, you need not look any further than last Sunday’s game against the New England Patriots. Less than a week before the game, the team announced that the game would be a “White Out” and encouraged fans to wear white to match the new “Cold Front” Rivalries uniforms the Bills would be wearing on the field. In just days, sporting goods stores across Western New York found themselves short on white Bills merchandise. What resulted was 70,000 fans at the stadium, all decked out in white, creating an incredible visual scene that anyone who was at the game in person, or watching on television, won’t soon forget.

When it comes to watching the games themselves, everyone has their own rituals and traditions. Plenty of fans have season tickets and tailgate with the same people, in the same spot, every week (author raises hand). Others get together with family and friends to watch the game at home. Some fans need to hunker down in their fear bunker at home and watch the game by themselves because they are a giant ball of stress (raises hand again). For many fans though - both in Western New York, and especially outside of the area - a Bills Backer Bar is the place to be on Sundays. And sometimes Thursdays, Mondays, and the occasional winter Saturday.

Bills Backer Bars are establishments that are officially recognized by Buffalo Bills as a place for Bills fans to gather on game day, draft day, or any day they may just want to hang out with like-minded fans. There are over 600 Bills Backer chapters across the globe, including seven chapters in Europe, and even one in Tokyo, Japan.

The newest Bills Backer chapter on the scene is right here in Ellicottville at the Mill St. Sports Pub. According to Brenda Smith, co-owner of the Mill St. Sports Pub, turning the Pub into an official Bills Backer chapter has been a process nearly a year in the making. “We actually started the process last year in November, just before we opened. I kept going on the Bills website where you apply, but it always said they weren’t accepting applications. I tried every few weeks until finally, just recently, it went through. A couple of weeks later, we got our acceptance letter, and that was a pretty exciting day.”

Smith sees this as an opportunity to bring the community together. “When people come into town, they check the Bills Backers website to see where they can watch the game and find other fans. Now that we are listed, it will bring people here who might not have known about us otherwise. It helps create that fun, shared community of Bills fans.”

With the 2025 season just over a quarter of the way finished, and the Bills leading the AFC East, the excitement of the season is continuing to ratchet up. Even though the result of the New England game was not what any fan was hoping for, it has not done anything to dampen the enthusiasm and expectations for the team, nor the sense of community amongst the fans. The fanbase will be cheering just as loud, following the team just as closely, and issuing just as many “Go Bills” greetings to strangers on the street. And that is what makes Bills Mafia, Bills Mafia.